....and extreme frustration sets in!

Have a Versacamm SP-300V. Both heads had severe deflections, so I replaced them both. Followed the service manual to the letter, and heads printed fine - for one test print. Then the b/c head fuse blew. I took the mainboard to an electronics specialist who replaced the SMD fuses with fuse holders. Also, the tech verified the transistor integrity, found two bad ones, and replaced them. Brought the board back to the shop, installed it, ensuring all cables were seated correctly, and fired the machine up. Fuse for b/c still blowing. Tried the disconnecting the cables one at a time trick to isolate problem, but that proved inconclusive, as the fuse remained good - until the pump kicked on during the boot up cycle. The heads are new, have not had any solvent or ink splashed on them, cables are good, transistors are supposedly good, so I am at a total loss here. I have gone through this machine with exceptional thoroughness and found nothing at all that I can see (as far as loose cables, broken cables, screws lying where they shouldn't be, etc.) that would cause a problem like this. Anyone have any ideas what I could be overlooking? I'm fairly competent with these machines and have successfully replaced heads before with no issues. Could a bad pump cause a blown F2 or F3 fuse? I am ready to throw this machine in the trash. Luckily it is a back up machine and my regular versacamm is running like a top.

Replies to This Discussion

By the way, I bought this machine used because I got a good deal on it. Thought it would be a good idea to have a backup in case my main machine went down. That's why the heads were so deflected - the original owner was not so diligent with maintenance.

Since you've replaced heads before I'm sure that you did not accidently twist the cables going to the b\c head, this is one thing that would blow the fuse. My suggestion at this point would be to replace the new with the old and see if the fuse still blows. If not problem with the head, if so problem with cables or board. A board will usually get hot to the touch at the transistor that is bad. A bad capicator for the b\c can lead to the same issue.

You should not give up as your fault isolation methods are sound. Observation is key.

It may be the scan motor that you are hearing instead of the pump. The servo board feeds power to the scan motor and head power. That may be the correlation that you are seeing between the two.

Not sure if you have or not but make sure all screws are accounted for. There is a chance that the person before you lost a screw and never found it. Your activity could have move it into a compromising location causing the initial short

The main board connects to the carriage board via Connector CN11 and CN208 on the carriage board. CN200 and CN202 connects to the head 0 the B/C.

If the cable from the main board to the carriage has a short on it then disconnecting the cable to the head will not reveal anything. If disconnecting the cable at CN208 and the fuse blows then the problem is in the cable or main board.

There is a possibility that there is a short on the cable because of rubbing.

If you disconnect the cable at CN11 and the fuse the problem is on the main board.

normally a short will leave a trace of arcing or black soot on metal look for any trace of burns.

Hi guys, thank you for your input on the issue. I have an update, but unfortunately it's not good news. I got out my multi-meter and checked the transistors. Found a bad one. Ordered the transistor, took it and the board to my electronics repair guru, and he replaced it. Reinstalled the board in the machine. Had multiple people double check that the cables were properly routed and seated, and also had them double check that all screws, etc. were properly placed and nothing was missing or out of place. Fired the machine up expecting success only to be greeted by yet another blown fuse (F2). Before replacing the transistor, F3 would blow. The heads are good - they've been check in another machine. I am truly at a loss here as to what could be blowing these fuses and transistors. Hubby is currently checking main board to see what the integrity of the transistors (again). Just ordered new head cables (again) even though they've all already been replaced. I suppose it's possible that I could have gotten a bad one? I'm really stumped. If this doesn't work, I'm calling Russ, my Roland tech. LOL I'm so sick and tired of dealing with this machine! It's got some bad mojo!